The Warned Collision
by kaaayyytteee
Summary: Uncle Bud warned me, that first time I saw the little blonde boy with his father in Diagon Alley. "Stay away from them", he said, "People like them are evil", he said. Stay away from the blonde, seemed easy enough. Nothing's ever easy, is it? Starting from Sorcerer's Stone. Draco/OC. Rating may change from T to M violence and mature scenes
1. Chapter 1

So this is my first Harry Potter story...be gentle xD

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No one ever really knows the severity of change that a surprise letter can do. I never really expected anything special to happen to me, especially not around in my hometown. Troy, New York is nothing like the ancient city it derives it's name from. The once proud city is dulled now, historical buildings still standing tall, pattered with bullet holes and the bodies of the drug dealers and their victims.

Uncle Bud knew that the neighborhood was getting worse, I'd seen the way he'd quickly scan the housing section of the newspapers. It would have been almost impossible for us to move into a safer home anyways, the safer towns had higher taxes, and the two of us were struggling as is.

I live with my father's older brother, Uncle Bud, here in Troy, New York. Uncle Bud looked like the stereotypical, elderly Irish man. He was massively tall, about 6'8 and was rail thin. He was in his early seventies, but was as spry as he'd been in his forties. His once golden-auburn hair had turned white, and his sea blue eyes always seemed pearly and watery with age.

I never expected something finally…great to happen to me. Don't call me a pessimist, but I was just working with the straight up truth here. I'd expected a normal life, even though my Uncle and the rest of my paternal family are amazing witches and wizards. I've known my family was magic ever since I was little and my dad would used to use his patronus charm to guard over me when I would play outside. Even though my whole paternal side was magical, my mom and her family were muggles. So, I assumed I was probably going to lack magic, but that didn't bother me much. I'd planned to go to college, do something with my art, and planned on scraping by on a meager artist's living.

So, imagine my surprise when one morning before I went off to start making jam and Uncle Bud went off to work, a solitary owl tapped at the window of our kitchen. Uncle Bud was up in a flash, his watery blue eyes widening at the sight of the feathered creature. I felt myself flinch as my Uncle opened the window and let the creature into the kitchen. I wasn't really comfortable around birds, ever since a sea gull attacked me at the beach once.

"This is for you, Toka." Uncle Bud said, his already watery orbs began to fill with tears. In his hands he held a letter, sealed with wax and a bit of magic. I recognized the symbol of my father's old school, and I shot Uncle Bud a shocked look. The elderly man smiled, smoothing back his white hair.

"Ah..I've been waiting for this day since you were very small." My Uncle said to me, for once seeming a little melancholy. "I remember when your father and I got our Hogwarts letters, he was around your age too."

Scurrying to sit at the kitchen counter, Uncle Bud placed the seemingly pristine letter into my dirty hands. Shaking, I slowly peeled the seal away and unfolded the letter. With wide eyes, I started to read:

**_"Dear Miss McHugh."_** The letter read, in dark, black ink. **"_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment. Term beings on September 1st. We await your owl no later than July 31st." _**

I must have read and re-read the letter about five times before I looked up at my Uncle. He was scribbling on what looked like ancient parchment paper with..a quill?

"U-Uncle Bud? What's up with the quill?" I asked, eyeing the olden time quill. Sure, most of my family was magical, but I'd been raised in the muggle life style. I understood the simple basics of the magical world, but muggle sociology seemed much less confusing to me. Why not just use a pen and paper? An email even. It just seemed more practical to me.

"Yes, Toka. This school doesn't take emails or phone calls." Uncle Bud laughed; fastening the small piece of parchment shut with some twine, and attached it to the owl's ankle. The owl hooted happily, seemed to bow, and shot out of the kitchen like a rocket on meth.

"W-what did you send?" I asked, watching wide eyed as one of the owl's feathers fluttered to the ground. Uncle Bud smiled, handing me the metal bucket I used to pick berries for making jam.

"Your acceptance, of course." He smiled, cocking his head to the side. I saw him unconsciously pat the inside left flap of his jacket, where I knew he kept his wand tucked away. I dropped my dented bucket into the ground, denting it further.

"..Y-you're kidding, right?"

* * *

He wasn't joking.

"We're luck that your father and grandmother set aside funds for tuition and supplies for you." Uncle Bud said cheerily, as I clung to his elbow as the two of us walked the streets of Diagon Alley. I was still a little dazed from the Floo powder traveling. I've had the misfortune of using Floo powder to travel before, but I could never get used to the strange feeling of my body moving faster than the speed of sound via magic.

At least we were somewhere that I liked. Diagon Alley was hidden behind a pub in London, England. I asked Uncle Bud why no muggles had found the Alley, but he explained that muggles don't have the power to see magical things, unless aided by a witch or wizard. I didn't really understand, but since it was for the protection of the magical world, I didn't care too much. Sighing deeply, I looked around the Alley and watched as women and men strode around in fanciful capes and robes, looking regal with their noses in the air and their hands filled with packages.

"You have your list?" Uncle Bud asked, looking down at the slightly crumpled list in my hand. I nodded, clutching harder to his arm as a group of boys ran past us, screaming. Uncle Bud laughed, dragging us into a shop with a wide grin on his face.

"Diagon Alley hasn't changed a bit. All the same shops that your father and I shopped at are still here." Uncle Bud let out a melancholy sigh as a portly woman came spinning towards us, a tape measure around her neck. The plump woman was wearing a marbleized purple dress and her white streaked grey hair was piled high atop her head.

"First year robes and uniform?" The woman said, adjusting her glasses.

"Hello, Malkin." Uncle Bud smiled, nodding his head to the old woman. The woman, Malkin, jumped in surprise at my Uncle's voice before cupping her cheeks with shaky hands.

"J-james? Buddy, is that you?" Malkin whispered, rushing forward and hugging my uncle. Uncle Bud laughed, patting the woman's back and returning her hug.

"Please, I thought you learned in second year that I'd rather be called Bud than James. Malkin, this is my neice, Katoka. Katoka, this is Madame Malkin, we went to Hogwarts together and she'll be getting you your robes and uniforms." Uncle Bud laughed, nudging the old woman playfully. Madame Malkin giggled, patting Uncle Bud's shoulder as she stood on her tip toes. Malkin turned to me, her pale green eyes lighting up.

"Oh…oh..she looks just like Stuart. She's got that mother's eye of hers though." Madame Malkin said, eying me up and down. I mostly took after my father, but I did inherit one of my mother's eyes. My right eye was sea blue, just like Uncle Bud's and my fathers, and my left was the same golden color as my mother's. I grinned, shrugging my shoulders and puffed out my chest in pride a bit.

"Thank you." I smiled, cocking my head as Madame Malkin whipped her tape measure from her neck and began to wrap it around me at odd angles. She nodded her head before heading behind the seemingly countless racks of clothes and began digging around. I turned towards the front of the store when the bell attached to the door began to clang. A young woman and a boy stood in the doorway awkwardly, peering around the shop.

"Hello, there. Madam Milkin is busy for the moment, but please, come in." Uncle Bud said, speaking for the Madame. The woman, obviously the boy's mother, smiled shyly, cautiously stepping into the store.

"Not used to magic, m'lady?" Uncle Bud asked, smiling down at the boy. I hid behind Uncle Bud's legs for a moment, but when I realized that the boy was hiding behind his mother in a similar way, I peered out of my hiding spot. The woman laughed shakily, nodding her head.

"My name's Jenna Thomas, and this is Dean." Jenna said, hauling the boy out from behind her. He was short, just like me, but had a very long neck. His black hair was shaved close to his head, and his coffee brown eyes were wide with uncertainty.

"I'm Bud McHugh, and this is my neice, Katoka." Uncle Bud introduced us, as I tiptoed closer to the boy. He looked about my age, and maybe he was even going to Hogwarts too.

"Are you two shopping for first year..uh..robes and uniforms." Mrs. Thomas said, looking down at her son's list of necessities. She was clearly a muggle, which confused me. I thought muggles couldn't see anything magical, but I assumed it was because of her magical son.

"Yes we are, Hogwarts?" Uncle Bud smiled, cocking his head to the side. Mrs. Thomas sighed, but she smiled and nodded her head.

"Are you excited for school?" I asked Dean, who bit his bottom lip for a moment before slowly nodding. I smiled, making him smile back, revealing that one of his front teeth was missing. Giggling, I nodded Dean over to sit with me on one of the many waiting chairs.

"Where'sya from?" Dean said, the missing tooth making him have slight lisp.

"New York, you?" I asked, smiling at my new friend.

"London. You're getting all your school stuff today?" Dean asked, pulling out a small ball of fur from the inside of his jacket pocket. "This is my pet rat, Phil."

"Hi Phil." I said, reaching down to scratch behind the brown rat's ears. The little creature squeaked, rustling it's whiskers before crawling up Dean's arms and back into his jacket. "I don't have a pet yet, but Phil is a cute rat."

Dean smiled at me, just as Milkin came back with her arms loaded with simple, dark robes. Huffing, she threw them atop the countertop and gingerly hauled me to my feet and moved me in front of a full length mirror. Milkin helped me tug on one robe and it automatically began to shrink. Dean and I stared wide eyed at the robe around me, but Uncle Bud and Milkin just seemed amused by our faces.

"These are self-repairing, self-fitting, and self-ironing robes. They'll change into your house robes as soon as you're placed into one of the four Hogwarts houses. The fourth robe is lined with sheepskin, for the colder months." Milkin said, husking the robe off me before setting Dean up with his robes.

"So..the're grow wif' us." Dean lisped, wrapping the black robe around him. Milkin nodded, tugging a pointy, black hat over his head. His ears stuck out oddly, making me laugh until Milkin shoved the same hat over my head.

"Aren't these a stereotype?" I asked, pointing to the pointed witch's hat atop my head. Mrs. Thomas nodded, laughing as her son fiddled with his hat. Milkin shrugged, smiling as she pulled out a few white shirts, dark pants, sweaters, and dark skirts. She gave Dean and I five sets of uniforms that would go under our robes. I eyed the stiff looking white undershirt, deciding that I'd probably switch it out for a white tee-shirt instead.

"That should be it for you two." Milkin said happily, adjusting the clasps of the swishy black clocks that sat on our shoulders. Dean and I smiled at each other, spinning around in circles and making our cloaks swirl around.

"Mrs. Thomas, would you like to collect the rest of our children's supplies together?" Uncle Bud asked the dark haired woman, who smiled politely.

"We just finished our shopping actually." Mrs. Thomas said shyly, holding up a large bag of books. "But we'd love to meet you at the train station."

"That would be wonderful; I was actually worried about my Toka being on the train by herself." Uncle Bud said, smiling down at Dean. "It calms my soul that a fine, young man will be there with her." He said, making Dean dip his head in humility. I could see the huge smile on his face, and I knew that we would have each other to sit next to on the train.

"So, I'll see you then Dean?" I asked, high-fiving my new friend.

"Yew bet, Kato!" Dean smiled, slapping his hand against mine. We all walked out together, and said our goodbyes as we parted ways on the street.

"See, it's easy to make friends." Uncle Bud said proudly, happy that I'd already made a friend. I smiled, clutching onto his elbow as we went from shop to shop, picking up everything on my list. The last two supplies on the list, was a wand, and a pet.

"Now, I'm going to go get you a pet, don't you worry. Your uncle does know best." Uncle Bud laughed, handing me some magical currency that looked just like golden coins. "You go get a wand. Remember to tell Mr. Ollivander who you are."

"Okay, Uncle Bud." I said, reluctantly letting go of his arm. I skittered inside the store, eyeing all the small boxes stacked on top of each other in aged bookshelves. The man at the desk looked nice, even though his hair was really bushy and his glasses looked a little scary.

"Hello there." The man said, "Welcome to Ollivander's, you looking for your first wand?" The man, I assumed to be Mr. Ollivander asked, stepping onto a ladder and began to dig through the boxes.

"Yeah, I'm Katoka McHugh." I said, saying it as more of a question than a statement. Why would it matter if this man knew what my name was? Mr. Ollivander seemed to freeze, but turned around on the ladder to smile down at me. He snagged a few boxes before scrambling back to the counter.

"Yes, yes. I can defiantly see your father in you." Mr. Ollivander said, making me puff in pride at the second time someone compared me to my father in one day. As he was opening up some of the boxes, I noticed that one of the shelves of boxes had collapsed, and that a vase across the room was smashed into pieces.

"Someone break in?" I asked, eyeing the mess. Mr. Ollivander laughed, handing me a dark wood wand. It was small, maybe 8 inches and felt a little strange in my hand.

"Eight inches, ebony wood, with a unicorn hair core." Mr. Ollivander said, cringing a little as I twirled it around a little. I shrugged, handing it back to the old wand-maker. The next wand was about an inch longer, and was a lighter wood.

"Nine and a half inches, pear wood, with a phoenix feather core." He said, watching me once again shrug at the want. Mr. Ollivander tapped his chin for a moment before nodding to himself and picking a box that was at the bottom of the pile.

"This one..I think is a keeper. Ten inches, cherry wood, with a mermaid hair core." The wand-maker said, pressing the beautiful wand into my hand. I felt my hand warm with power and the wand seemed to perfectly fit into my palm. I spun it once, making the box the wand came from shut close with a small _tap._

"As I said, perfect." Mr. Ollivander said, patting my head as I handed him the gold coins.

"When your father came in for his first wand, he tried to wield that very wand, but it was too powerful for him. He'd be very proud that you're handling the wand." The wand-maker said, smiling down at me fondly. Bushing, I thanked him and ran out of the store with my new wand tucked into the waistband of my jean shorts.

"_KATOKA!_" I heard Uncle Bud call for me, waving me towards him from a few shops down. Running over to my tall uncle, I spied the small cage in his hand.

"Toka, this is your pet owl. This is Trojan." Uncle Bud said, bending down to show me the bird. I froze for a moment, watching the cage. Uncle Bud knew I was afraid of birds, and I knew that awaiting me in that cage was a yellow-eyed demon foul that wanted to peck my face off.

Instead, there inside the cage was the smallest owl I'd ever seen.

"Oh..awwh.." I cooed, looking at the tiny owl. The little creature would fit in the palm of my hand comfortably, and had the most gorgeous white, brown, and black speckled feathers. It's big, black eyes watched me curiously, blinking slowly.

"He's a flammulated owl. He'll be about one pound when he's full grown, but he's magic, so he'll be strong enough to deliver packages." Uncle Bud said, a happy twinkle in his eyes. I started cooing to the small bird, who happily cooed back.

"I love him, thank you Uncle Bud." I smiled up at my uncle, who was looking worriedly across the street. The robe around Uncle Bud's feet blew in the warm wind, giving him a swooshing effect. Uncle Bud suddenly stiffened up, staring across the street. I wonder what his problem was?

"Uncle Bud?" I asked, tugging on his sleeve. I looked across the road, and saw a strange, pale blonde haired man. He was dressed in fancy looking robes, and had what looked like a walking stick. He was glaring at Uncle Bud from across the street with cold, grey eyes piercing. His gaze suddenly fell to me, and a cruel smile warped across his face. Uncle Bud scowled, tugging me closer to him before covering me with his robe to hide me from the blonde man. Peering over the edge of Uncle Bud's dark green robe, I saw a small boy beside the blonde man. He looked around my age, and was an exact, miniature replica of the bigger man.

"Katoka, let's go home." Uncle Bud said, holding his head high while turning us down the street. He still hid me under the side of his robes, just like he and my father always did when I was a shy child.

"Uncle Bud..who were those.." I said, walking too quickly alongside my uncle to bother looking back. Uncle Bud shook a bit, but it wasn't out of fear. Uncle Bud was fearless, I'd never seen him scared.

"Those were people you should never associate yourself with. Those people are the bringers of death." Uncle Bud said seriously, leading us back to the fireplace inside The Leaky Cauldron, where we would use floo to get back home.

Stay away from the two blondes.

Seemed simple enough.


	2. The Blondes

I wanna thank my lovely reviewers: Jen and Neko-fire demon tempest

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"This is kinda like the subway in the city, I guess." Katoka grumbled to herself, eyeing all the people that were bustling around the train station. The London Train Station was massive, with beautiful glass windows and brick archways, but the blonde couldn't help but feel a little lost. Uncle Bud was pushing a luggage cart that held a large trunk, a few suitcases, and Trojan's cage.

"Not as many people as in the Big Apple." Uncle Bud mused, stopping and peering over the large crowd. The two were supposed to meet with Mrs. Thomas and Dean here, but the McHugh's hadn't caught sight of them yet.

"Why don't we wait for them at the platform?" Katoka asked, adjusting the strap of her large bag over her shoulder. Uncle Bud laughed, shaking his head.

"I don't think they'll be able to find us." Uncle Bud smiled, pulled the train ticket out of his pocket and flashed it.

"_Platform 9 ¾ ?_ _Crazy freaking fractions. Hopefully this school won't have any kind of math classes. I hate math."_ Katoka thought to herself, looking down at the shining golden ticket.

"Mrs. Jenna! Mr. Dean!" Uncle Bud shouted, pocketing the train ticket and waving to the matching dark haired mother and son. Mrs. Thomas seemed exhausted, yet relieved to see the McHughs and hurriedly pushed her son and his luggage trolley forwards.

"How are you, Mr. McHugh?" Mrs. Thomas asked, adjusting the zipper of Dean's light weight jacket.

"Please, call me Bud. We're doing fine this morning, yourselves?" Uncle Bud asked, patting Katoka's head.

"Then call me Jenna, please! We're doing smashing, just can't find the bloody platform.." Jenna seemed stressed once more, biting at the stubs that were once her fingernails.

"Right through that wall, Jenna." Uncle Bud said, pointing to a brick wall. Jenna seemed unamused, cocking her hip as she gave Uncle Bud a stern look.

"I'm far too stressed to play around, Bud! The train should be coming soon!" Jenna said nervously, letting Uncle Bud take the luggage trolley and start running towards the wall. Just as he was about to hit the wall, he sank into it. Jenna and Dean jumped in fright, having just seen someone "vanish" before their very eyes.

"C'mon then, we don't wanna be late." Katoka smiled, grabbing her own luggage cart and coasted through the fake barrier. The Thomas' came through on the other side timidly, looking around in wonder. Hundreds of people awaited the train to Hogwarts, all hugging their children and wishing them well.

"Welcome to the platform of the Hogwarts Express, Jenna, Dean." Uncle Bud said softly, looking for the train over everyone's heads. Sometimes being a height-behemoth had its perks. Uncle Bud smiled, weaving his niece and their two friends through the mass of families towards the edge of the platform.

"Here comes the train." Uncle Bud sighed, "The Hogwarts Express."

A massive red and black train came speeding down the tracks, steam billowing from it's stack. Bold, white letters splayed across the front of the train, train number 5972. The wind picked up as the train's brakes whistled, the large train slowing to a screeching halt. Train workers began helping people with their luggage, stowing the many suitcases and trunks in the luggage compartment at the back of the train.

Uncle Bud handed Katoka her ticket, and bent down on his knees, getting to eye height with his niece.

"Good luck, Katoka. I'm proud of you, no matter what you do, do what you think is right." The elderly man said, pulling in the young blonde for a hug. Katoka wrapped her arms around her uncle, squeezing him tightly.

"Toka! The trains about to leave!" Dean shouted as he boarded the train. Katoka nodded, hugging her uncle once more, grabbed her owl's cage and started towards the train.

"Remember what I told you about that blonde boy!" Uncle Bud called, earning some strange looks from the people around him.

"Gotcha!" Katoka called, marching towards the train.

"Don't go down any strange halls alone!"

"Alright!" Katoka said, pulling her ticket out of the back pocket of her jeans.

"Try not to get detention!" Uncle Bud called, rubbing his palms worriedly.

"Okaaay.." Katoka called, slightly irritated.

"Please do all your homework, even if you think it's pointless." The blue eyed uncle said once more, watching his niece hand the train worker her ticket.

"OKAY!" Katoka shouted back as nicely as she could, pleading with her eyes for her uncle to stop.

"If you need anything, ask your Aunt Rolanda." Uncle Bud cast one last request as Katoka boarded the train and the red doors were shut and locked. Katoka was surprised to find that not only did her great aunt Rolanda worked at the school, but that she was a witch! Aunt Rolanda was her maternal great aunt and Katoka was sure that everyone in her maternal family was muggle.

Back at the station, Uncle Bud sighed, running his hand through his white hair, tugging the curly strands in worry. He'd just sent off the closest thing he would ever have to a daughter. Bud had been raising Katoka since she was only six years old and he couldn't manage a day without her.

"Atleast Dean and Katoka are together and they have Katoka's great aunt as well." Jenna Thomas said to sooth the tall man, patting his elbow. Uncle Bud sighed, smiling down at the beautiful, dark brown haired woman.

"That is a comfort.." The blue eyed man sighed, patting Jenna's shoulder.

"My husband and I are making some stir fry tonight, perhaps you're interested in joining us?" Jenna asked, walking alongside the older man as they stepped through the brick wall back into the muggle section of the train station.

"I would love to." Uncle Bud said, offering Jenna his arm and escorting her to her car.

* * *

"This one looks clean, empty too!" Dean cheered, holding the door open for Katoka. The blonde sighed happily, flopping down on one of the cushioned seats. Dean closed the door behind them with a small click and sat down across from the blonde.

Dean was happy that he made a friend before school started, especially since his new friend was Katoka. She was nice, very friendly, and Dean thought everyone would be jealous that she was his best friend and that he was hers.

Katoka was pretty, Dean knew that immediately. His friend was accursedly pale, with big, mismatched eyes and small features. Her ears would twitch a little every so often, like she was hearing something high pitched, but Dean didn't point that out. Her hair was wild, curly and untamable like a lion's mane, the colors of aged hay, polished gold, and tarnished gold mixed in together. Her eyebrows were thick, and a little bit darker than her hair, but not horribly so. Her right eye was a bright blue, while her left eye was a pretty yellow-gold. Katoka was also short, around 4'8 and seemed a little plump. Dean hadn't known her long, but she always seemed happy, or atleast content. She seemed excited to go to school, and the dark eyed boy hoped that they got placed in the same house together.

"We're on our way." Katoka whispered, breaking Dean out of his day dreaming. It didn't last long, the dark eyed boy went back into his own personal la-la land a few moments later. Katoka wasn't too put out by her new friend's flighty-ness, she had alot on her mind too.

Katoka was happy that Dean and she were going in together. Dean was a very nice boy, very out spoken, just what Katoka wished for in a best friend. Katoka knew that they had only known each other for a short time, but the duo had made a connection. Dean was a good looking boy, with rich, dark skin and deep brown eyes. His hair was coarse and dark, poofing up in all different directions. His neck was very slender and long, as was his nose. His eyes were almond shaped, framed by long, dark eyelashes.

"I hope we're in the same house." Dean whispered, still staring out the window.

"We will, De, we will." Katoka whispered back, staring at the Scottish landscape that was zooming by. The two were silent until someone knocked on the door of their compartment and stuck their head in.

"'Ello, have you two seen a toad? My friend Neville lost his toad.." The girl said, her brown eyes peering around the compartment.

"No, I'm sorry, no toads here." Katoka said, looking around on the floor. "We'll keep an eye out for the toad though." She smiled, cocking her head at the brown haired girl.

"You're American, right?" The brown haired girl asked, keen eyes watching Katoka. She nodded, tilting her head to the other side.

"Yeah.." Katoka said uncomfortably, looking to Dean. Dean puffed up his chest and looked towards the bushy haired girl.

"Is d'ere a problem wiff that?" Dean asked, his missing tooth giving him a strange lisp. The girl blushed, shaking her head and covering her mouth with one of her hands.

"Oh my, no. I-I'm sorry, I tend to spout things sometimes that are inappropriate and easily skewed. I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione said, entering the compartment and offering her hand to shake.

"Dean Thomas." Dean smiled, shaking the girl's hand. Katoka stood and gave the brown haired girl a hug, witch seemed to stun Hermione.

"I'm Toka McHugh." The blonde smiled, sitting back down.

"It was nice to meet you two, but I must keep searching for Neville's toad. I hope to see you two later." Hermione smiled, quickly exiting the compartment.

"Katoka.." Dean started, taking his gaze away from the window. Katoka hummed, facing her friend, who suddenly looked very serious.

"I jus' wanna let you know what we might hav' ta' put up wiff'." Dean said seriously, fiddling with his hands. Katoka nodded, urging him to continue.

"Some people might not lioke you an' me, ya'know. Some people, they're really up tight 'bout their bloodlines, call 'emselves "pure bloods". They might try an' call us names, but don't let'em hurt ya'." Dean said softly, placing his hand on Katoka's knee. The blonde smiled, grabbing Dean's hand and squeezing it.

"Don't worry 'bout it, I've been called worse. We'll just stick together." Katoka smiled at her friend, who smiled back.

"We better change into these robes, that girl was already changed." Dean said, making sure the door was shut and the blinds covered all the windows. The two first years turned their backs on each other and quickly changed, trusting that neither would try to sneak a peak at the other. Katoka was too afraid to go into the girls bathroom alone, and honestly, Dean was a little frightened to be alone as well.

Decked out in their robes, the two folded their muggle clothes and stuffed them into Katoka's large bag, since Dean had no room left in his because he stuffed it with sweets from the candy cart earlier. The two first years sat next to each other as the train chugged along, the sun setting.

Around 8 o'clock that night, the train once again to each other, the duo stepped off the train and into the darkness. Swarms of other students were stampeding towards a dock, where hundreds of boats awaited them. The water looked dark, with a creepy looking mist floating above the glass like lake.

"Alright, c'mon!" A massive man hollered, ushering students into the boats. "Six to a boat."

Dean and Katoka held hands as they got settled in one of the boats, sitting at the head by the lantern. Behind them sat a pair of twin girls, and behind them sat a large boy and that blonde boy that Uncle Bud warned about. Katoka refused to look towards the blonde boy, hearing her uncle's warning in the back of her head.

As the boat drifted through the fog, a magnificent castle seemingly evaporated from nothing. As they exited the boats, the students were herded into a massive room, where an old woman awaited them on a flight of stairs. Katoka looked up at the witch in awe, her mismatched eyes wide.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." The woman said with a smile and a nod of her tightly bunned head. "Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin." The woman's eyes scanned the crowd of first years, her green eyes watching for any troublemakers. Katoka's hand tightened within Dean's, and Dean knew his blonde best friend was anxious to be placed in a house.

"Now, while you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup." The woman smiled at her new students. Katoka took in a shaky breath, looking towards Dean excitedly as a boy named Neville distracted the woman enough for Katoka to whisper to Dean.

"A family, didja hear her? We're gonna be family and have more family." Katoka smiled, her eyes welling up with tears. Dean smiled, squeezing her hand. He knew what she was feeling. His father walked out on him and his mother when he was a baby, and even though his mother had re-married and had given birth to half brothers and sisters, Dean always felt...different. Dean's mother had told him that Katoka lived with her uncle, meaning that her parents were no longer "in the picture".

"It's true then, what they're saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." A snide voice called over the other voices not long after the older woman left the first years alone for a moment. Everyone went silent and turned their attention to whom spoke, the blonde from Diagon Alley.

"Uncle Bud told me to stay away from him." Katoka whispered to Dean, who was watching the blonde.

"I wonder why..?" Dean questioned, seeing the blonde and two large boys standing before two smaller boys. Both were pale, one with dark brown hair with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead, and another with bright red hair and freckles.

"This is Crabbe and Goyle, and I'm Malfoy...Draco Malfoy." The blonde said, his ego expanding rapidly. The red headed boy snickered lightly, biting his lip. The blonde sneered, his grey eyes narrowing at the red head.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask yours. Red hair and a hand me down robe? You must be a Weasley." Draco said, looking down his nose at the red head. Katoka gasped, stomping her foot on the ground and earning herself some looks.

"Blonde hair, skinny, and obviously fake, you must be a barbie." Katoka huffed, stepping closer to the red head, whos shoulder's had slumped in embarrassment from Malfoy's humiliating jab. At the sound of Katoka's taunt, the red head glanced up and smiled at the back of the little blonde's head. Worried for his best friend, Dean quickly dragged Katoka and he into the crowd and away from the angry Malfoy heir.

Thankfully, the old woman returned a few seconds later and rushed the first years through two, huge, twin doors and into a massive hall. Four long, wooden benches were decorated for the four separate houses. The ceiling was the night's sky and candles floated through the air like they were on invisible strings. Katoka looked up to the ceiling, amazed by the twinkling stars.

"It's not real, the ceiling. It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History." Hermione, the girl from earlier said as she appeared beside Katoka and Dean.

"It's beautiful..maybe Uncle Bud will let me use this spell on all the ceilings in our house." Katoka said breathlessly, loving the stars.

"All right, will you wait along here, please? Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbldedore would like to say a few words." The woman, who Katoka heard was Professor McGonagall, said, nodding to an elderly man. The man stood gracefully, his beard was long and white, and his blue eyes twinkled, reminding Katoka of her uncle.

"I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. The first years please note that the dark forest is _strictly_ forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that the 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you." The old man said nonchalantly, as if not talking about the lives of his students. Katoka swallowed thickly, sharing a disturbed look with Dean.

"When I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses." Professor McGonagall said, pulling out the roster of student names. One by one, students went up and sat on a stool infront of the whole school.

The hat was large, oh and the freaking thing could TALK.

Gryffindor

Slytherin

Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw

Gryffindor

Hufflepuff

With most of her classmates being sorted and separated Katoka started getting antsy. Hermione and the red head that Katoka stood up for from before were both placed in Gryffindor, and Draco had been placed in Slytherin.

"Dean Thomas.." McGonagall called, forcing Katoka and Dean apart. The magical hat spoke loudly all of Dean's inner workings, and Katoka prayed they would be sorted together.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted, earning cheers from the table decked out in red and gold. The name "Harry Potter" was called, making the whole hall silent. The hat spoke in a hushed whisper, and Katoka watched as the boy whispered "anything but Slytherin."

"In that case...GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted, causing the Gryffindor table to explode in cheers.

"WE'VE GOT POTTER!" The table began to scream, as the other tables seemed put out that they didn't get Harry Potter in their houses.

"Katoka McHugh." Professor McGonagall called, causing the blonde to shake, but slowly make her way to the hat. Sitting down carefully, the old hat fell over Katoka's eyes, but she could still feel the ocean of students watching her and listening to every word about her that the hat had to say.

"Hmm..yes, _yes_. A turbulent one you are..sharp tongued, outspoken, and a strange, enigmatic happiness emanates from your very being. You're very…sympathetic, I suppose is the best word, easy to trust and easy to care about others. Oh…ehehe, not very studious I see? Ravenclaw is out then. Hufflepuff would be a nice pick for you…oh.. oh, wait..Oh..a jokester I see, quick to snap a joke. Good, good, some people around here need to get their wands out of their rears. You're very brave though, that might be your downfall….You'll have a blast here, Miss McHugh. _**GRYFFINDOR.**_" The hat shouted, and once again, the hall burst out in cheers. Katoka raced from the stool towards her house's bench, where Dean enveloped her in a hug.

"Hey, baby sister." Dean smiled, hugging her tightly.

"Hey, big brother." Katoka smiled, tears coming to her eyes.

And for once, other than when she was with Uncle Bud, Katoka felt like she had a family again.

* * *

After too many introductions, a huge meal and a small introduction to the layout of the school, the first years were being lead to their rooms. The red head from earlier, Ron, Hermione, Katoka, Harry, and Dean had conglomerated together for safety in numbers. Ron's older brother, Percy, was bringing the fresh meat to their new home, Gryffindor tower, which was on the seventh floor of the castle.

Percy led them through the maze of shifting staircases, past living paintings, and around ghosts from different eras. The new Gryffindors soon came to a portrait of a chubby woman in a beautiful pink dress.

"Password?" The fat woman asked, smiling at Percy.

"_Caput __Draconis." _Percy said. The woman nodded, and the portrait swung aside to reveal a whole new room. It looked like a large living room, with comfy looking chairs, couches, tables and a large fire place.

"Gather 'round here. Welcome to the Gryffindor Common Room. Boys' dormitories, upstairs and down to your left. Girls, the same on your right. You'll find that your belongings have already been brought up." Percy said, ushering the genders to their correct rooms. Dean and Katoka separated after a quick hug and saying goodnight.

Katoka and Hermione were roommates, along with a girl named Lavender Brown and another named Parvati Patil. The two girls seemed nice enough, and just like with Hermione, Katoka greeted her new sisters with a hug. All four girls settled into bed, happy with their living arrangements and fell asleep for the first time in their new home.

* * *

Katoka was slowly growing accustom to Hogwarts. Her first class, transfigurations, had been a nice start to the day. She'd found out that Professor McGonagall could change into a green eyed tabby cat. The class was spent discussing the introduction chapter of the textbook, and explanations on simple spells that they would be attempting the next class. Katoka had that class with Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. She didn't know the two well, but atleast they were nice.

The next class was Potions, which Katoka had with Dean, Hermione, Harry, Ron, a few other Gryffindors and some Slytherins. The potions professor, Professor Snape, was a strange character. He was tall, with pale skin, greasy hair, and dark eyes. The sudden entrance of the sad looking professor made the blonde jump and try to tuck herself into Dean's side.

"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to enjoy the subtle science and exact art that is potion making." Snape said softly, almost day dreaming. He past the students, eyeing each of their smoldering cauldrons and heavily packed potion ingredient satchels.

"However, for those select few who possess the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death." Snape husked, reminding Katoka of the evil lion in The Lion King movies. Snape kept glancing at Draco, the blonde that Katoka was warned about. Draco seemed to puff up under the attention, but scowled when Snape turned his attention to Harry, who was scribbling on a piece of parchment.

"Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confidant enough to not...pay...attention." Snape stressed the last few words as best as he could with his monotone drawl. Hermione elbowed Harry, who quickly snapped up and stared at the professor.

"Mr. Potter. Our...new...celebrity." Snape said, his dark eyes roving over the scarred boy. Katoka got a strange, uncomfortable feeling at the back of her neck, and gently nudged Dean. Dean looked down at her, and nodded his head slowly, he was just as creeped out as she. Harry blushed under the professor's taunt, and fisted his robes.

"Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" The professor asked, a taunting tone in his voice. Harry's eyes widened, and he clearly had no clue. Hermione's hand shot up, she clearly knew the answer.

"You don't know? Well, let's try again. Where, Mr. Potter, would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?" Snape teased, knowing that Harry would have no clue.

"I-I don't know, sir." Harry stuttered, adjusting his glasses nervously.

"And what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfbane?" Snape said, cocking his head to the side.

"I don't know, sir." Harry said, his cheeks a bright red.

"Pity. Clearly, fame isn't everything, is it, Mr. Potter?" Professor Snape smirked, almost sneering down at his student.

"L-leave him alone, how's he supposed to know?" Katoka whispered, holding onto Dean's robes. Harry's eyes snapped over to Katoka's shivering form. Snape slowly turned around and strode up to Katoka's desk and stared the small girl down.

"Ah...Miss..McHugh. I do remember your father well." Professor Snape said, glaring down at the mismatched eyed girl. Katoka felt breathless, like someone had stomped on her chest. Snape blinked once more before turning away and striding back to his desk. Katoka let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding in. Dean rubbed her back softly, hoping that his new best friend wouldn't break out in hysterics.

Neither Gryffindor noticed a pair of silver grey eyes watching them, narrowed in dislike.

* * *

The next day, everyone was at breakfast for their second day of school. Katoka sat side by side with Dean and Ron, all three of them stuffing their faces with food that miraculously appeared in front of them. Katoka was shoving a warm roll in her mouth when the noise of beating wings met her ears.

"MAIL CALL!" An older Hufflepuff shouted, as countless owls of all sizes swooped into the great hall. Gasping, Katoka hid under the bench with a squeak, holding onto the edge of Dean's robe. Dean tugged her back onto the bench and poured her a new cup of tea, since she had split hers in fear.

"You've gotta letta', Toka." Ron said, his cheeks stuffed with porridge and bacon. Hermione, who was sitting across from Katoka, cringed at his manners while dainty eating her corn flakes. Cautious of all the other student's owls, Katoka gave Trojan a bit of sausage, and sent him off to the owlery with the other owls.

"It's from my uncle." Katoka said, opening up her letter. It was a typical "I miss you" letter, and out of the side of her ear, Katoka heard Harry talking about a bank robbery. She saw Neville's cool new ball, but felt bad that the boy was forgetting so many things that he couldn't remember all the things he'd forgotten.

"Are you ready to meet your Great Aunt Rolanda?" Dean asked as they left the Great Hall and started towards the flying practice grounds. The school didn't allow the first years to have brooms unless they were quidditch players, so the brooms for flying practice would be supplied by the school.

Dean talked Katoka into showing up to flying practice a little early to talk with her great aunt. As the two first years walked out into the flying courtyard, a lone woman stood before two rows of brooms. She was tall and thin, with a tough athletic build. Her hair was short and grey, the strands standing up every which way. Her piercing, yellow-golden eyes caught sight of the two Gryffindors and she quickly made her way towards the two.

"Hello, Katoka, it's nice to see you again. I haven't seen you since you were a little baby." Professor Hooch said, her golden eyes the same shade as Katoka's left orb. Katoka smiled and hugged her great aunt, introducing Dean.

"You've still got that eye of my niece, now, go on you two. Line up, I see the other students coming." Professor Hooch said, waving the two towards the right line of brooms. The Gryffindors and Slytherins took their places as class begun.

"Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Come on now, hurry up. Stick your right hand over the broom and say, 'Up'!" Professor Hooch wasted no time with her class, her hawk like eyes roving over her newest batch of fliers.

The first years began shouting at their brooms, commanding them to rise into their hands. Harry's broom snapped up into his hand after his first try, but no one else seemed to be as lucky. It took Dean about five times to get the broom to come to him, but it took Katoka about ten different tries. Professor Hooch was trying to pump up the class, telling them to put more emotion into calling their brooms. Hermione finally got ahold of calling her broom, but all Ron was able to do was hit himself in the face with his broom.

"Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it. And grip it tight, you don't want to be sliding off the end." Professor Hooch explained, demonstrating with a tight squeeze on the broom handle.

"When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, and then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle...3...2..." Professor Hooch said, blowing the whistle. Katoka kicked off the ground and was able to flutter a foot above the ground shakily. Katoka grinned, pleased by her feeling of weightlessness, when the sounds of Neville whimpering caught her attention.

"M-M-Mr. Longbottom Mr. Longbottom!" Her great aunt cried, watching Neville shoot off into the sky recklessly. Neville was screaming and clinging onto his broom, too petrified to open his eyes or let go.

"Down! Down! Ahhhh!" Neville cried, trying to control his broom. Katoka's heart was pounding in her chest as the boy soared further and higher into the air. His broom was jerking wildly, and managed to start bouncing along one of the castle walls. Neville's broom sent him flying past the class, knocking Katoka off her broom and onto her behind. While zipping around, Neville flew past a statue that was holding a sharp, wrought iron spear. Neville's cloak snagged onto the tip of the spear, yanking him off of the runaway broom. His cloak ripped, sending him falling to the ground with a wet _crunch_.

"Everyone out of the way!" Professor Hooch called, rushing to Neville's side. Neville was whimpering, clutching his wrist with tears in his eyes.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh dear. It's a broken wrist. _Tch, tch, tch._ Good boy, come on now, up you get." Professor Hooch said, hugging Neville to her side and gently holding onto his smashed wrist.

"Everyone's to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. Understand? If I see a single broom in the air, the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say quidditch." Professor Hooch said, rushing the teary eyed Gryffindor into the castle. Katoka cringed, watching drops of blood fall from the poor boy's mangled wrist.

"Did you see his face? Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to fall on his fat ass."

Katoka spun around, glaring at whoever spoke. It was Draco, holding Neville's remembrall in his grimy little paws.

"Give it here, Malfoy." Harry growled, glaring at the fair haired boy.

"Yeah, don't be such a jackass." Katoka sided with Harry, glaring up at the Slytherin as well as she could. Draco sneered at the two Gryffindors, but then an evil smirk crossed across his pale face. Katoka tensed, she knew that look didn't mean that Draco was just going to hand over the remembrall.

"No. I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find." Draco laughed, hopping on his broom and pushing off the ground. He coasted into the air effortlessly, and smiled down at the dark brown haired boy and blonde girl. Draco scoffed at the two as he began to hover higher and higher into the air, towards the roof.

"What's the matter, Potter? McHugh? Bit beyond your reach?" Draco mocked, dangling the remembrall between his fingers. Harry frowned, tightening his grip on his broom and mounting it. Katoka growled under her broom and re-mounted her own broom, glaring at Draco. Hermione gasped, running over to the two and grabbing the sleeves of their robes.

"Harry, no! You too, Katoka! We heard what Madam Hooch said! Besides, you both don't even know how to fly." Hermione tried to reason with them, but Harry simply shook the bushy haired girl off and flew into the air.

"What an idiot." Hermione huffed, her cheeks turning red from embarrassment Katoka smiled at her while kicking off the ground and floating in the air shakily.

"We just gotta stick up for 'em, don't worry." Katoka said, shaking on her broom. Hermione huffed, rolling her eyes as she watched her blonde friend slowly rise into the air.

"Stupid Americans..look'it her, a light breeze could blow her over!" Hermione groaned, watching Dean run under where Katoka was flying. Hermione assumed he was planning on catching her when she fell, but Katoka would probably just crush Dean if he even managed to catch her.

Katoka felt weightless and unbalanced as she slowly floated towards the two boys. The two had started to bad mouth each other in mid-air and Katoka was gonna join in. Just as Katoka got close enough to throw an insult, Harry lunged at Draco, who threw the remembrall into the air. Harry was still trying to stabilize himself on his broom and Katoka took off as quickly as she could after the remembrall.

"Almost..got it.." Katoka groaned to herself as she took both hands off her broom and reached out for the ball, but fumbled in mid-air. Someone caught her by her shoulder, re-adjusting her on her broom and held her in place. Just as her hands wrapped around the remembrall, a somewhat larger hand wrapped around hers.

"Harry!" Dean shouted in joy, seeing "The Boy Who Lived" just saved his best friend from falling. Katoka let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding in and looped her arm around Harry's. The two slowly flew to the ground, using each other to stabilize themselves.

"Toka!" Dean shouted, rushing up and hugging the blonde. Dean then shook Harry's hand, practically shaking the poor boy to death.

"Thank you so much, Harry! You've got me in your debt, Potter!" Dean cried, hugging the blonde again. Katoka smiled, hugging Harry as the rest of the Gryffindor's cheered on their prized classmate. The Slytherins all grumbled angrily, hissing at the boy.

"Harry Potter? Katoka McHugh? Follow me." McGonagall said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Harry and Katoka immediately deflated, and slowly marched after the transfiguration professor. Katoka shot a look back at the flying class, most of them looked back with worried looks on their faces. The Slytherin students were all snickering, laughing at the two for getting caught.

Katoka's eyes zero-ed in on the blonde, who was laughing in her direction. Draco caught sight of her ferocious glare and suddenly stopped laughing. Draco felt himself freeze under the blonde girl's mismatched gaze.

This girl was going to give him hell.


	3. First Year And Fresh Meat

So this is the new and improved chapter 3! I haven't changed too much, but I believe that these changes will make the story more realistic and better to read! The first few years will be more like long one-shots, so that Katoka's personality is introduced. She won't be playing a big role in the story until later on, so the first few years are (somewhat) peaceful for our heroine!

Thanks to all those that stuck around (:

* * *

Katoka's POV:

After that crappy stint in flying class, I expected Professor McGonagall to yell at us, give us detention, maybe even follow Aunt Rolanda's choice and expel us. My chest was pounding as I followed behind the tall witch and I could tell Harry was just as nervous. McGonagall led us to a classroom, where she went in and then came out with a boy.

The boy was pretty good looking and was an older Gryffindor. He had pretty brown hair and shimmering brown eyes. He had a playful look about him, but he had this strange scar about the side of his head, a patch of hair on that side looked like it wouldn't grow in like the rest of his hair.

"Wood, I've found you a new player: a seeker." McGonagall seemed pleased as she presented Harry to this Wood boy. "I've also brought a possible future trainee."

Wood smiled, looking down at us with kindness.

"Really? We haven't had a good seeker since Weasely left. They're just first years though. I can take a first year trainee, but I don't know about a first year player." Wood said uneasily, looking down at us. Professor McGonagall shot him a dirty look, making Wood cough and rub the back of his neck.

"B-but ahh..I trust your judgment. You two, meet me at the quidditch pitch after classes." Wood smiled, shaking each of our hands before rushing back into the classroom.

* * *

Panting, I shakily dropped off my broom and onto the ground. Harry got to prove his seeking skills before I could show off my "trainee" skills, so Harry was gone by the time I took to the air. Wood was waiting for me, and now watched as I shakily pushed into the air and forced myself to fly around.

What I lacked in speed, I made up for in a gradual gain in balance. For a first time flier, it was apparently very good that I wasn't falling off every second, even though I was going pretty slowly.

"Good job, McHugh, a few more flying lessons, you'll be a natural in the air!" Wood nodded, his arms crossed over his chest. "You'll be ready to play in your third year! Maybe your second if we need you and you improve!"

Ecstatic, I raced back to my room to write to my uncle.

* * *

"H-hey, Toka?"

I was in the library, going over my eight inch essay for charms when a wary looking Harry approached me. The poor boy was pouring sweat, wringing the cuffs of his cloak worriedly.

"What's up?" I asked, pushing my parchment away from me to show that he had my complete attention. Harry sighed, sitting down across the table from me and glanced around the room worriedly. I now noticed that he was a little paler than normal and that he had nervously wrung his hands so much that the skin had turned a light pink.

"You like animals, right?" Harry asked sketchily.

"..I'm not buying black-market animals off you." I said slowly, watching as Harry's eyebrows shot up his scarred forehead.

"No, uh..no. I just wanted to know what kind of animals you know the most about. D-dogs, right?" Harry asked, twisting his fingers together. I'm pretty sure I heard a few of his knuckles pop. He's gonna need some serious physical therapy if he keeps messing with his hands.

"Yeah, I've been raised alongside dogs, practically. My Uncle Bud's a big pheasant hunter, so we've always had a lot of dogs. Irish Setters, Beagles, the occasional German Shepard or Coon Hound. What'ya need to know, Harry?" I said, but Harry didn't seem to know where to start. He tried to find something to say, but just kept wringing his battered hands.

"You're looking a little tepid, dogs are great for stress, ya know." I said worriedly, watching a large bead of sweat dribble down his temple.

"W-what do you do with a mad dog?" Harry asked hurriedly, scratching his head of wild, dark brown hair.

"...Leave it the hell alone."

"I'm serious!" Harry cried, looking more nervous by the moment.

"As am I. haven't you ever heard of the saying: _'Let sleeping dogs lie'_, Harry?" I asked. Harry's green eyes suddenly widened, like he had the epitome of the century.

"Sleeping...get it asleep! Thanks Toka, you're a big help!" Harry said, tossing me a chocolate frog before rushing out of the library. I shrugged, opening up the chocolate and stuffing it in my mouth. I hated the way the magical chocolate would move around in your mouth for a moment before it 'died', but I did love chocolate.

* * *

"Today, you each will be creating your own antidote to common poisons. You will each work alone, but I will allow you to converse with your fellow classmates quietly about the different qualities that you chose to add to your potion. Starting: now." Snape said, sitting down at his desk and opening up a newspaper with moving pictures.

Shrugging, I dusted off the corners of my cauldron and started to skim through my potions book. An antidote to common poisons seemed easy enough, since it was on the eighth page of the first chapter. The list was simple enough: powered bezoar, ground unicorn horn, 'standard ingredients', and mistletoe berries.

After pouring a couple cups of water with standard herbs into the cauldron, I gave the pot a moment to heat up. I ground the bezoar and some unicorn horn, looking around the class as I did so. Harry and Ron seemed to be trying to copy each other, which wasn't working out too well. Hermione was tying her hair back after her hair fell into the cauldron as she was peering into it. Dean was sitting in front of me and was having trouble grinding his unicorn horn.

"Just twist your wrist, Dea." I whispered to Dean, who smiled back and nodded. I heard a scoff from beside me, even though I thought no one was sitting there. In the once empty seat was now Draco Malfoy, who was looking into my cauldron. I chose to ignore him and added four measures of the crushed bezoar into the cauldron.

"Why do you sprinkle it in like that?" Draco whispered, throwing in a handful of crushed bezoar into his cauldron. I said nothing, giving the potion five moments to heat up. Draco didn't seem off-put by my silence, but kept a sneaky eye on my brew. I waved my wand over my bubbling potion, before leaving it again to brew.

"Why did you turn the heat up like that?" Draco asked, making the fire underneath his cauldron more intense. I shrugged, watching Ron and Harry try to figure out how much 'a pinch' was. Dean was up to par with my step, and was waiting for his potion to brew. Snape was still reading his freaking newspaper, even though I'm pretty sure Crabbe's potion just started to bubble over.

"That looks like too little for a pinch." Draco said, watching me intently. Why was this ass-hat so intent on my freaking potion? Wasn't he just barking shit at Harry and I a few weeks ago.

"Wait...was that counterclockwise?" Draco asked, watching me stir my brew. I blew my hair out of my face, irritated. Don't get me wrong, usually if someone is talking to me: I'm super nice. Nine times out of ten, I'll actually want to talk to someone, but not if I think the person's a total jerk, like blondie over here.

"Mistletoe berries? I think baneberry would be better.." Draco said, reaching for the little white and red fruits. Quickly, I snatched the container of berries out of his hand and knocked it to the floor.

"What the bloody hell?" Draco asked, looking at his smashed container of berries. "What's wrong with you, McHuge!"

McHuge?

A fat joke?

Really?

Like I haven't heard that before.

"I believe you owe Miss McHugh an apology, since she just saved your hide. The baneberry would have killed you, as it is poisonous." Professor Snape said, seemingly done with his light reading. Draco's mouth popped wide open and his eyes almost rolled out of their sockets.

"Everyone, back to your work." Snape said, turning his back and began to prowl the desks. I plucked some boom berry out of my ingredient kit and plopped a few of them into the mixture.

"What were those?" The fellow blonde asked softly, trying to peep in on my potion. Ignoring him, I plucked a few sprigs of lavender and peppered them into the potion. Quickly, I added a few drops of moondew and a few mint leaves.

"None of those are on the list..do you want to get in trouble?" Draco deadpanned, erratically re-reading the text book. Sighing, I stirred the potion five times counter clockwise and left the potion to brew before I could bottle it. Letting out another annoyed sigh, I turned to Draco.

"Listen, I'm trying to be nice here. I know what I'm doing and I don't think someone who almost put poisonous berries into an anti-poison potion should be telling anyone what to do. Creepy, orange lunatic." I grumbled, feeling my Irish roots coming out. In front of me, Dean snickered as he spooned his potion into a vile.

"V-very well." Draco stuttered, turning back to his own potion, which promptly blew up in his face. The whole class burst into laughter. Ron and Harry actually were crying, but I kept my thoughts to myself and poured my dark teal colored liquid into my clear, oval vile. I brought my vile to Professor Snape, who seemed indifferent to my potion, but I saw the curious glance he through at the different colored liquid.

"So..you're pretty good at potions." Draco said as I started packing up my ingredient kit. I glanced at him quickly, and shrugged.

"Maybe..you and I could, ya know..maybe work together. Even though Potter has chosen the path of lesser blood, there's still a chance for you, Kato." Draco smiled, as if what he was saying was..._nice_.

"It's Katoka, you little brat." I smiled, narrowing my eyes. "You're lucky I left my shillelagh up in my room or I would bataireacht you straight to hell. For your information, I am half wizard and half muggle! I'd rather strip and eat bark off a tree with my bare teeth before I even thought about working with you. Now, you can either shut up and or go away, or you can let me break all your bones." I said casually with the best smile I could manage. Draco's grey-blue eyes widened with every word, and he looked offended.

"You...you**...MCHUGE**!" He shouted lamely, scooping at what little potion was left at the bottom of the cauldron into his vile as his cheeks glowed red. I felt a bit bad for screeching him out, but a part of me was proud of myself. With my head held high, I walked out arm and arm with Dean, leaving the fuming blonde behind.

* * *

"Happy Halloween, Toka! What you did in potions a few days ago, bloody brilliant!" Ron cheered, stuffing his pie hole with beef casserole. I cringed as I caught sight of his food in his mouth, but smiled none the less.

"Happy Hallows to you too, Red. Thanks, I suppose. I kinda feel bad though.._not._" I giggled, eating some more of the creamed chicken stew. Whoever made this was truly a magical creature. Harry snickered, choking a little on his pumpkin juice.

"So where's Hermione? She's missing all the candy." I asked, not noticing the brown haired girl in her typical spot. Ron shuffled in his seat a little awkwardly and Harry turned his attention to Dean, asking him to pass the pumpkin pie. Neville was sitting beside me and bent over to whisper in my ear.

"Ron said something bloody cruel 'bout 'er, and she 'eard. She's in the bathroom, cryin' 'er poor eyes out." Neville said, his eyes cast down as if he had something to feel bad about. I smiled, grabbing a few handfuls of candy from the bowls and stuffing them into my pockets.

"I'm gonna go see Hermione." I said, sending a sad glance Ron's way. I saw him shrink away from me and I knew that he knew he'd hurt the poor girl's feelings. I left the Great Hall, tapping down the hallway towards the girl's bathrooms.

"'Mione? Are ya' in here?" I called softly as I pushed open the old door. I heard slight sniffles coming from one of the stalls and a small bang.

"M-maybe.." A soft sob was heard from the middle stall. I shuffled over to the stall; pulling a playing card out of my back pocket and using it to slide against the stall lock and open the door. Hermione gasped, seeing the seemingly locked door open up.

"W-was that a speechless spell?" She sniffled, drying her eyes.

"No…it was...four of spades." I said, holding up the playing card before shoving it back into my pocket. Hermione laughed a bit, holding her hands out as I handed her a handful of thieved candy from the main hall.

"Now, you're gonna snack on that, get back to the Great Hall, pop Ron a good one and get yourself some dinner." I smiled, giving Hermione a quick hug.

"I'd follow along, but I gotta go take a shower before everyone makes the mad dash." I smiled, leaving the brunette in the bathroom to wash her face. I sucked on what a lot of the other students were calling 'American-muggle pops', but they were really just tootsie pops. As I walked, I couldn't help but notice the darkness of the halls and the strange shadows that seemed to dance against the stone. The hallways of Hogwarts were always creepier at night, especially when you're alone.

**_THUMP!_**

I stopped, stupidly, and slowly turned around.

"HOLY SHIT!" I screamed, dropping my tootsie pop in shock at the sight of the creature behind me. The thing was huge, with blue skin, big ears, a coned head, and some seriously jacked up teeth. It was wearing tattered and tight fitting clothes and was carrying a huge club.

With my heart pounding in my chest, I took off in a dead sprint down the hallway towards the Great Hall. My heart pounded out a beat like a drum: "Get to Great Hall, get to professors, get to Dumbledore, get to McGonagall, get to Snape, get to ANYBODY."

I heard the sound of something heavy being swung through the air and the sound of the door breaking. I turned around before shoving the doors open to the Great Hall. Nothing was following me and no one was in the Great Hall besides Professor Snape.

"Miss McHugh...what are you doing...here?" Snape asked, looking down at me.

"I uh...I was running away from that thing, sir." I admitted shamefully, looking down.

"That was a troll, McHugh. Come, I'll escort you to your dormitory." Snape said evenly, walking me out of the Grand Hall.

"Thank you." I whispered, following the dark figure down the dimly lit halls, which didn't seem as scary anymore now that professor Snape was here.

* * *

"You all will have today's class to practice a transfiguration spell, specifically, the acalanthus spell. You will be taking these bells." Professor McGonagall said, holding up a simple looking metal bell. "And transfigure it into a bird, specifically, a canary."

Without speaking, professor McGonagall's bell quickly began to melt and take shape. The bright metal turned a neon yellow hue, growing feathers and a beak before fully turning into a beautiful, giant canary.

The massive bird flapped it's wings, involuntarily making me twitch. Beside me, Dean patted my shoulder and covered his small laugh with a fake cough. He knew that birds scared the shit out of me, but for some reason, he thought it was funny. McGonagall passed out the small bells to the students and watched at her desks as the students began to attempt their acalanthus spells.

"Acalanthus." Hermione said primly, tapping her bell with her wand. The bell transformed into a gorgeous little bird, who began to fly around the room. I sighed, looking at my sad little bell that refused to transform for me at all. Ron seemed to be having the same problem as I was and he was starting to get frustrated. Dean had already transfigured his bird, which was flapping and whistling happily.

"Acalanthus…aaaaalllcanthus…alcancer.." I mumbled grumpily, jumping in joy when the metal began to warp. The metal turned a bright red before splitting in two, becoming two small pinchers. The bell had transfigured into a little crab that was about the size of my hand.

"I…it's a crab." I grumbled, frowning at the little sea creature. Dean burst out laughing while professor McGonagall swept over, taking my little crab out of my hands. She smiled at me before turning the crab back into a bell and gave me it back.

"Ah-cal-an-thus." McGonagall said nicely, nodding her head to me before going to check on Harry who had finally transfigured his bell. Ever since Harry's massive victory during his first Quidditch match, he seemed to lose focus for everything but the sport. I sighed, taking a small break before trying again, finally transfiguring my bell into the hell spawn that is a canary.

"Good job everyone! I want each of you to go through pages 30 to 38 in your textbooks, choose a transfiguration spell and write a six or seven inch paper on the spell of your choosing." McGonagall said, holding up the text book for the class before releasing us. The students stampeded out of the transfiguration classroom, some dashing up stairs and some running down the stairs and hidden corridors.

I joined up with Harry, Ron, and Neville as we parted ways from Dean and Hermione. The four of us had DADA together, while Dea and Hermione had another class. The defense against the dark arts classroom was dank and smelled like sand and expired peanut butter. The teacher, Professor Qurriell was a fidgety man, his fingers seemed to fumble over themselves and he always seemed like he was dropping something. He was a good teacher, but he acted like each student was a ticking time bomb whenever someone raised their hand.

"G-good evening, class." Qurriell stuttered with a kind smile on his face. I smiled back at him from my seat in the second row of desks while other students grumbled or smiled back. The man adjusted his turban nervously before asking us to open to the second chapter of the text book.

Harry nudged me, a smirk on his face as he pointed out that Ron was practically asleep sitting up. Giggling, I crumpled up a piece of parchment and tossed it at Ron, making him wake up with a snort. After the waking of the ginger, nothing else seemed to keep my attention.

Qurriell seemed to be stumbling over his lecture about some kind of creatures called Dementors, when Harry suddenly hissed. The scarred boy started rubbing his shoulder, trying to find what was hurting him. I turned to see what looked like a very sharp quill tip that someone had shot at Harry's shoulder, barley piercing the skin of his shoulder. I gasped, inspecting the slight wound before turning around to see who shot the quill tip at my friend.

A row behind us sat a trio of Slytherins, who were all snickering. Draco and two large Slytherin boys sat sneering at Harry. Scowling back, I feigned a lunge at the green and silver draped jerks, causing all three of them flinching at my fake out. Smirking at their cowardice, I turned back around to nurse at Harry's cut shoulder.

* * *

Draco's decent mood was quickly fouled as groups of Gryffindors came into the defense against the dark arts classroom. Draco was sitting in the third row with Crabbe and Goyle when the weasel, Potter, and McHuge unknowingly sat in the row in front of them.

Draco couldn't stand Potter. He was an egotistical, attention seeking, muggle lover. The proof was of who he chose to fly with: a muggle born, a few mud-bloods, and a blood traitor. Thankfully the muggle born Granger and the mud-blood Thomas weren't in this class, but the blood traitor ginger and the American mud-blood were.

Draco couldn't believe how the American had the gall to not only decline his friendship, but also degrade, humiliate, and threaten him. If he was being honest, Draco was a little hurt by her dismissal of him. Draco had never been dismissed before in his life, and here he was: being dismissed twice since entering Hogwarts.

Draco saw Crabbe breaking off the point on one of his quills and taking aim at Potter. Grinning, Draco nodded and watched as the sharpened tip flew through the air and nubbed Potter's skin, just below his neck. Draco's grin widened at Potter's reaction, but the smile wiped off his face by McHugh's reaction.

McHugh let out a little gasp before scotching closer to Potter. She pulled his hand away from his neck and pulled the collar of his sweater down a little bit to catch a glance at the pierce. Potter's shoulders stiffened in embarrassment as the blonde girl let his collar snap back in place before she spun to face the three culprits.

Her mismatched eyes were narrowed in distaste, aimed straight at Draco. Draco found that his mouth went dry at the sight of the angry fire in the blue and gold orbs. She snarled at them and lunged, but stopped halfway. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle all flinched, which made her smirk before turning back to nurture Potter's little wound.

"Of course..Potter always gets the attention. '_Oh, I've got a little prick, pretty girl, please come tend to my festering wounds'._ Please…" Draco muttered to himself, and then his brain froze.

P-pretty girl…

He did not just refer McHugh as 'pretty girl'.

Scowling at his inner thoughts, Draco watched as the American licked her thumb before pressing it against the slightly bleeding wound. Potter hissed, shying away from the pressure, but McHugh pulled him back.

"Now, now. After this class let's go to the dorms, I have some honey we can put on this." McHugh said softly as to not attract Qurriell's attention. Draco lent forward, intent on listening in on their conversation.

"Honey?" Potter asked, watching as McHugh pulled her thumb away from the small cut. It had stopped bleeding, but it still looked rather raw.

"Honey is an anti-bacterial; it'll help it heal better. It's either that or let me put some stinging alcohol on it or let the school nurse douse you in nasty potions." McHugh mused, peering at Potter's cut before adjusting his collar and then his cloak. Draco fumed internally, watching Potter smile like the cat that caught the canary.

"That does sound better than potions. You know a lot of things about natural remedies, why do you do so poorly in herbology?" Potter whispered to the blonde.

"I understand muggle herbs, but not too much all these new magical ones. I'm surprised that my best class is potions. Hopefully I'll be able to understand all these new herbs and ingredients." McHugh chuckled tugging at her hair. Draco knew that potion's was McHugh's best class; he purposely sat beside her in that class so he could try and shadow her.

One of Draco's favorite pastimes was to curl up in a chair by his mother's cauldron and watch her brew potions. Draco's mother had a flawless grace about her while she was crafting her potions, almost as if it was a dance. Draco decided that the American-mud blood gave off the same aura of relaxation, grace, and fluidity that his mother did as she brewed her potions.

Besides DADA and potions, Draco and McHugh only had one other class together: flying. Through the ever growing whispers of the grapevine, Draco knew that McHugh was a decently well-rounded student. She only seemed to fumble with a few classes, such as transfiguration, herbology, and astronomy.

"Why do I even care what she gets in her classes...?" Draco hissed to himself, his silver-blue eyes narrowing at the chattering Gryffindors in dislike

"Thank God we've got a lot of classes together. I don't know what I would do without your notes from History of Magic! Even though you're always late." Potter joked, shooting the floundering Qurriell another cautious look. The DADA professor had no clue that most of the students weren't listening to his rant, but he kept on stammering.

"How would you even know? Every time I come in you're dead asleep." McHugh giggled, rolling her eyes and writing something down.

"It's so boring in there, and Professor Binns is so…so.." Potter stumbled for a word, running a hand through his hair.

"Monotone?" McHugh joked, leaning her cheek against her hand.

"Exactly." Potter laughed, fiddling with a few scrolls in front of him.

"Thank God we have lunch after this." McHugh grumbled, resting her elbows on her desk and her face between her hands.

"Walk with me and Ron there?" Potter asked, eyeing the clock on the north side of the wall. McHugh nodded and Draco narrowed his eyes at the male Gryffindor. Who did he think he was? Asking McHugh to walk with him, like he was a bloody knight.

"Sure, we've got herbology after, so we can bounce to that right after." McHugh smiled, pulling her schedule out of one of her text books and double checking her classes.

"Sounds like a plan." Potter smiled, the two Gryffindors became silent as Qurriell turned to stare in their direction.

"And that class, is o-only..one of the f-few ways t-that dark ma-agic c-can be…identi-ified. H-have a good d-day." Qurriell said, releasing his students. Everyone in the room scurried out into the hall, ecstatic to be on their way to another lunch at Hogwarts.

"Move it Potter, McHuge." Draco snapped, seeing that the two Gryffindors were walking slowly in front of him. Crabbe and Goyle growled from behind him, having chosen to become Draco's personal body guards. Potter turned to face him with a sneer, grabbed McHugh's elbow and dragged her further ahead.

"Stupid Potter. Stupid McHugh." Draco huffed, watching the small blonde struggle to keep up with the scarred boy's walking pace.

"Come." Draco said, sticking his nose in the air. "It's lunch time." Draco announced to his two bodyguards, most likely because they already forgot what time it was. Huffing, the Malfoy heir stuck his nose further into the air and began to swagger down the hall.


	4. Christmas and crying

Thanks to all those that stuck around (:

* * *

"Merry Christmas!" Hermione sang as she woke us with her song. Lavender and Parvati both groaned, but sat up slowly. Our dorm room had been decorated in shimmering red and gold tinsel for Christmas, along with other little festive touches such as wreaths and pine-scented candles.

"It's the day before Christmas, 'Mine." I groaned, smiling up at the chipper book worm. Hermione was dancing around the room, stuffing her bags and trunk full of things she was certain she needed for her short stay home during the Christmas break.

"It's the same thing, Toka." Hermione sighed playfully, stuffing a few more books into her luggage bag.

"You should have packed last night, like we did." Lavender said, nodding towards her and Parvati's already stuffed trunks and luggage.

"Yeaaah...well, I wasn't ready...I suppose." Hermione blushed, smiling. "I'm just going to finish packing, then go say good bye to the boys."

"Tell them I'll be down in a little while." I grumbled, yawning and curling in around my pillow. 'Mine frowned, sitting down on my bed and patting my back.

"I'm sorry your Uncle got called in for work." 'Mine said, stroking my back. Uncle Bud had been called in for Auror duty, even though he had told me that he retired a few years ago. He said he was being sent on a very important mission, and wouldn't be back until February.

"It's alright, Uncle Bud promised he'd defiantly be able to spend Easter together." I smiled, thumbing my Christmas present from Uncle Bud: a blue, gold, and clear beaded anklet that was wound around my left ankle.

"That's the spirit!" 'Mine chirped, bending down to hug me tightly and smack a kiss to the side of my head. "I'll see you first thing when I get back from break. Have a good Holiday here with all the guys."

"I don't know how I couldn't enjoy having a room all to myself." I laughed along with the other girls, each waving as they dragged their trunks and luggage down the stairs. Alone, I sighed and scratched at the back of my neck. After sinking in the silence for a little while, I managed to pick myself up and drag myself into the bathroom. I stuffed myself into a pair of felt-lined, black leggings and a long, red hoodie, and sauntered down towards the Grand Hall.

"Merry Christmas!" Neville shouted at me from the table as I trudged into the Grand Hall. The usually packed room only held about ¼ the usual students, most of them having gone home. Smiling, I skipped towards the remaining Gryffindors, who were all eating breakfast and basking in the extra elbow room at the table.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Nev." I smiled, sitting in between him and Harry. Everyone seemed happy and calm with the scent of sugar cookies and gingerbread seemingly coming from thin air. Everyone was chatting, a myriad of little conversations that created the dull roar of voices that filled the room.

"I can't believe that he wouldn't go home. After all, he's probably spoiled for Christmas..bloody lucky." I heard one of the older Gryffindor girls whisper to her friend, who nodded. I looked towards Dean, who was listening to their rather obnoxiously loud and rude conversation as well. We followed their line of sight to the mostly empty Slytherin table. There were only five students, each of them sitting away from each other.

"Hmm..Malfoy's stayin' 'ere I s'ppose." Ron added, concentrating on his game of wizard's chest against Harry. I turned a little more in my seat to look at the blonde Slytherin, who was sitting all alone, poking his fork at a syrup soaked pancake.

"..That's kinda sad." I whispered, sighing. All talk at the table stopped, and all able bodied Gryffindors' jaws dropped as they stared at me. I felt myself blush and bristle, my shoulders hunched and I sighed again.

"What do ya' mean…sad?" One of the older boys asked, turning his head to glare at the blonde Slytherin.

"I mean..it's Christmas, and he's all alone. No one should be alone, 'specially not on Christmas." I murmured, remembering all the Christmas's that after Mom and Dad were gone and Uncle Bud had to work. I would always wake up with an excited jolt, elated to see everyone on Christmas morn, only to have something inside my chest squish as I realized that no one but the dogs awaited me.

"He's pr'olly used 'ta it. Bein' a Slytherin' an awll." Ron said, stuffing a bun in his mouth before moving his queen.

"Still..maybe..we could ask him to sit with us. Just for Christmas. The British and the Germans stopped fighting during World War One during Christmas once." I said, looking around the table. Some people seemed to like the idea, others seemed wary of it, but no one seemed to be against it. Nodding my head, I stood up from the bench. Dean smiled and stood up as well, and together we made our way across the room towards the green and silver table.

"Hmh." I said, clearing my throat. Malfoy stopped poking at his abused breakfast, leaning his weight on his elbow and his cheek pressed against his knuckles.

"Would you like to sit with us?" I asked softly, tilting my head and smiling. Malfoy's brow crunched together in confusion, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. I then realized how…sketchy this situation must look to him. Someone who's done nothing but snap and bitch at you is suddenly asking you to sit with them.

I wouldn't trust their motives either.

"I-it's just..it's Christmas. No one should be alone at all, let alone on Christmas." I smiled shakily, hoping I didn't sound like a stupid mess. Malfoy's eyes narrowed a bit more, and his blue-grey eyes sharpened. A wicked grin slid across his features, making him look devilish.

"You would know about being alone, wouldn't you McHugh?" Malfoy said, his smirk widening. I tensed, and so did Dean beside me.

"Excuse me?" I said, the smile sliding off my face and my fists clenched at my sides.

"You, knowing what it's like to be all alone…your whorish Muggle mother leaving you once she realized how disgusting you are, your blood-traitor father getting his comeuppance at the end of a Death Eater's wand, and your pathetic little Auror of an Uncle, too old to work, but too poor not to." Draco sneered, looking up from me at his seat.

I felt frozen solid, yet I was shaking at the same time.

_"Slug him…slug him."_ My internal devil said, saliva and blood dripping from long fangs. I could see it now, I would throw myself across the table like a feral dinosaur, and use my recently square-filed nails to gouge Malfoy's eye balls out. Then I would grab him by his ears and bash his head into his own House's table. Then I would grab him by the neck and drown him in the deep gravy boat, then drink the gravy as my victory spoils.

I felt my chest heave with the first sob.

Apparently reality and my inner thoughts weren't really clicking together today.

I saw Malfoy's sneer drop off his face and be replaced with a disturbed look of awe. As the second sob and tears bubbled to the corners of my eyes, he became distraught and scared; probably worried of getting in trouble for making me burst into uncontrollable sobs.

Tears were soon pouring down my face, the sobs escaping my chest in quick, heaving gasps. Out of all the horrible things that Malfoy has said this entire year, this was just too much-too close. This wound on my heart that he was digging at was fresh and still tender.

I whimpered, cupping my cheeks and bolted out of the Great Hall. I was running, I really didn't care where to. I felt wind and muted winter sunshine beat down on me, and I knew that I had somehow ended up outside. I spotted Hagrid's cabin and I pumped my legs as hard as I could to get there before anyone saw me.

* * *

"H-Hagrid! Ha-Hagrid!" I sobbed, slamming my fists against the aged wood, hoping that the large man was inside. Hagrid and I had formed a kinship once I had stumbled upon his large dog, Fang, soon after Halloween. I liked animals, but I was a real softy for dogs, and I loved all the dog-based stories that Hagrid could tell me. I heard something move around inside the hut and the door opened to reveal Hagrid, who seemed horrified at my state.

"Katoka, wha' in the 'ell 'appened?" Hagrid whispered, picking me up in his arms, looking around the grounds, and carrying me inside. Snuffling and sniffling, I managed to recall word for word what Malfoy said as the large man placed me on the floor by the fire place, right next to his mammoth sized dog. Fang whimpered, wiggling towards me and nuzzling against me.

"Well, 'e is jus' a bloody fool. 'E should be thankin' 'is lucky stars tha' ye' asked 'im." Hagrid whispered, pouring me a cup of rather strange tasting tea, but it was the thought that counted.

"I..I j-just thought that…m-maybe if..if given the chance, he could be nice.." I whimpered, wiping my eyes with one of Fang's ears. Fang snorted at that, shaking his head and giving my cheeks a few licks.

"Some peo'le..they jus' don't change, but tha' don't mean there's naw good in 'em. Ye' 'eard of tha' sayin', _'Bad men raise bad dogs, good men raise good dogs.'_?" Hagrid asked, patting me on the head. I sniffled again and nodded, patting Fang to help calm myself.

"That boy ain't got naw one in 'dis world, 'cept 'is parents. An' they ain't tha' kind tha' ye' want takin' care o' a fish, let 'lone a child." Hagrid sighed, shaking his head and taking a bite out of one of his homemade rock biscuits. I nodded, shaking myself a little before standing up.

"Naw', ye' get back in tha' hall, eat sum' food, an' forgit all 'bout it." Hagrid said softly, "Fang'll even go wit' ye'."

I smiled, nodded my head and pushed myself into standing straighter. Fang stood up beside me and gave a mighty bark. Hagrid smiled, and showed the two of us to the door.

"Don't sink ta' 'is level, ye' 'ear me?" Hagrid said, making sure I carefully got down the large front steps.

"Gotcha. Thank you, Hagrid." I smiled, feeling Fang nudge my side.

"Tha's me girl."

* * *

I walked back into the school with my head held high. I felt strong with the massive beast that walked along my flank, even though he was one of the biggest cowards I'd ever met. I strode towards the Great Hall with a swagger in my step. Just as I was about to open the massive doors, a voice called out to me.

"McHugh!"

I felt myself flinch at Malfoy's voice and I cringed. Fang turned around to face the Slytherin before I did, his ears pressed against his skull and his tail unmoving. I heard his footsteps coming closer, and I forced to turn around to face the blonde.

"McHugh…" Malfoy said again, stopping a foot away from me. My eyes widened for a millisecond as I caught sight of his face, but I quickly dropped all emotions. The whole left side of Malfoy's face was bruised a lovely shade of purple-red. I could see a defined hand print that was wrapped around his scrawny neck. Blood dotted his white uniform collar, and his hair was mussed, he clearly was attacked.

""I..ah..I.." Malfoy stumbled on his words, his hands going to tug at his wrinkled tie. I remained silent and slowly blinked, playing the uncaring and bored act.

"Y-you need to learn to control your dogs!" Malfoy spat, his hangs wringing at his tie. Fang grunted, shooting me a sour-puss look before grunting at the blonde Slytherin.

"N-not th-that thing. Your little Gryffindor dogs, attacked me as soon as you flew the coop." Malfoy husked, cracking his neck and poking his cheek.

_'Can't imagine why.'_ I thought to myself, but didn't say anything out loud. I could tell that the silence was starting to get to Malfoy, but I didn't care.

"I…didn't know you'd cry." Malfoy said, attempting a half-assed apology. I blinked again, cocking my head and turned around back towards the Great Hall doors. I heard Malfoy call out for me again, but I ignored him and entered the Hall.


End file.
